Effects of High-Intensity Interval Training Using the 3/7 Resistance Training Method on Metabolic Stress in People with Heart Failure and Coronary Artery Disease: A Randomized Cross-Over Study.

The 3/7 resistance training (RT) method involves performing sets with increasing numbers of repetitions, and shorter rest periods than the 3x9 method. Therefore, it could induce more metabolic stress in people with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) or coronary artery disease (CAD). This randomized cross-over study tested this hypothesis. Eleven individuals with HFrEF and thirteen with CAD performed high-intensity interval training (HIIT) for 30 min, followed by 3x9 or 3/7 RT according to group allocation. pH, HCO3-, lactate, and growth hormone were measured at baseline, after HIIT, and after RT. pH and HCO3- decreased, and lactate increased after both RT methods. In the CAD group, lactate increased more (6.99 ± 2.37 vs. 9.20 ± 3.57 mmol/L, p = 0.025), pH tended to decrease more (7.29 ± 0.06 vs. 7.33 ± 0.04, p = 0.060), and HCO3- decreased more (18.6 ± 3.1 vs. 21.1 ± 2.5 mmol/L, p = 0.004) after 3/7 than 3x9 RT. In the HFrEF group, lactate, pH, and HCO3- concentrations did not differ between RT methods (all p > 0.248). RT did not increase growth hormone in either patient group. In conclusion, the 3/7 RT method induced more metabolic stress than the 3x9 method in people with CAD but not HFrEF.

Effect of lockdown on wastewater characteristics: a comparison of two large urban areas.

The effect of the lockdown imposed to limit the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in France between March 14 and May 11, 2020 on the wastewater characteristics of two large urban areas (with between 250,000 and 300,000 inhabitants) was studied. The number of outward and inward daily commuters was extracted from national census databases related to the population and their commuting habits. For urban area A, with the larger number of daily inward commuters (110,000, compared to 53,000 for B), lockdown was observed to have an effect on the monthly load averages of chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, total suspended solids and total phosphorus, all of which decreased (confidence level of 95%). This decrease, which varied between 20% and 40% and reached 45% for COD, can be related to the cessation of catering and activities such as hairdressing, which generate large amounts of graywater. The ammonium loads, due to the use of toilets before leaving for work and after returning from work, remained constant. In the case of urban area B, lockdown had no noticeable effect. More data would be necessary in the long term to analyze the effect of changes in the balance between ammonia and carbon sources on the operation of wastewater treatment plants.

Understanding Rare Earth Elements concentrations, anomalies and fluxes at the river basin scale: The Moselle River (France) as a case study.

Anthropogenic activities linked to various new technologies are increasingly disrupting REEs biogeochemical cycles. A catchment-based perspective is therefore necessary to distinguish between natural (i.e., changes in lithology) and human-related sources of REEs variability. In the present study, REEs patterns, anomalies and fluxes were investigated in the French part of the Moselle River basin (Moselle River itself and some of its headstreams and tributaries). The REEs patterns in the headstream waters were highly variable and mostly related to the complex underlying lithology (granite, sandstone, tuff and graywacke). Along the Moselle River, the presence of positive Gd anomalies and a regular LREEs depletion/HREEs enrichment pattern on sandstone/limestone substrates were the most distinctive features. The Gd anomaly varied from 1.8 to 8.7, with anthropogenic Gd representing 45 to 88% of the total Gd. A linear relationship was obtained between the anthropogenic Gd flux and the cumulative population along the watershed. However, the magnitude of the Gd anomalies was shown to depend on the methodological approach chosen for their calculation. The use of a threshold value to identify the presence of an anthropogenic Gd anomaly may therefore be basin (and lithology) dependent, and care has to be taken in comparing results from different rivers or lithologies. Concentration of anthropogenic Gd in the Moselle River and its tributaries were close to, or above, the value of 20 ng/L reported in literature to elicit adverse biological effects in laboratory cell cultures. The ecotoxicological significance of Gd anomalies deserves further investigation because concentrations of anthropogenic Gd may also vary depending on the methodological approach used for calculating Gd anomalies.

Rare earth elements (REE) in the urban wastewater of Cotonou (Benin, West Africa).

The rare earth element (REE) contamination of urban wastewater, which was collected from open sewers and the inlet of a wastewater treatment plant in Cotonou (Benin), was assessed. The drinking water distributed to the inhabitants of Cotonou and water samples from private wells were also analyzed. The sampling occurred between October and December 2016 and the samples were analyzed by ICP-MS. Although the only magnetic resonance imaging facility in Cotonou opened in November 2016, pollution by anthropogenic gadolinium (Gd), which is included in phase contrast agents, was observed: there was 30-620 times more Gd in wastewater samples than in drinking and well water samples. Europium was another REE presenting positive anomalies. It is hypothetized than the europium came from the leachates of solid waste piles in the street. In the absence of any wastewater treatment, the REEs found in the wastewater are spread to the aquatic environment. It would be interesting to monitor the wastewater REEs over the long term. So far, the aquifers used for water provision have not been polluted by the anthropogenic REEs.

Twenty Years of Full-Mouth Disinfection: The Past, the Present and the Future.

BACKGROUND: Conventional periodontal treatment, performed quadrant by quadrant in multiple visits, was re-evaluated in the early 1990s when the full-mouth disinfection concept was introduced. Over the years, several modifications to the full-mouth disinfection approach have been suggested. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article is to review the evolution of full-mouth disinfection during the past 20 years, to specify its indications and to consider the prospects for this approach. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An electronic and manual search of the literature, ending in December 2016, was performed by two independent researchers. Only pivotal studies and randomized controlled clinical trials published in the English language that evaluated a new approach to full-mouth disinfection were selected. RESULTS: According to the studies included in our analysis (21 articles), several modified full-mouth disinfection protocols have been designed including: full-mouth treatment without chlorhexidine, the extension of hygiene methods and an increase in the duration of post-treatment chlorhexidine use, the replacement of chlorhexidine with other antiseptics, supplementation with antibiotics or probiotics, full-mouth antimicrobial photodynamic therapy and one-stage full-mouth disinfection combined with a periodontal dressing. CONCLUSION: Since 1995, several modifications have been suggested to improve the effectiveness of full-mouth disinfection. The majority of the studies demonstrate that the results obtained with full-mouth disinfection and its variants are equivalent to each other and to those obtained with the conventional quadrant method. Currently, the selection of this technique remains empirical and depends on the preferences of the practitioner and the patient. In the future, a patient-centered approach should be the best indication for the use of this technique.

Benefits and risk of sodium oxybate in idiopathic hypersomnia versus narcolepsy type 1: a chart review.

BACKGROUND: Few stimulants have been evaluated for the treatment of idiopathic hypersomnia (IH). Sodium oxybate (indicated in narcolepsy type 1, NT1) has not been tested in IH patients. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to retrospectively evaluate the benefit/risk ratio of sodium oxybate in IH versus NT1 using a chart review. METHODS: We reviewed the files of 46 patients with IH (35.7 ± 12.6 years old, 78% women) and 47 patients with NT1 (44.1 ± 18 years old, 47% women) and evaluated the benefits of sodium oxybate using the Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) and a four-point scale assessing the global benefit, sleep inertia, sleepiness, sleep duration, and sleep onset latency. The spontaneously reported side effects were collected. RESULTS: Sodium oxybate was prescribed at a lower dose in IH than in NT1 (4.3 ± 2.2 vs. 6.6 ± 2.8 g/night, p <0.0001) patients after having tried more (3.2 ± 1.4 vs. 2.2 ± 1, p <0.0001) stimulants, but it produced a similar ESS change (-3.5 ± 4.5 vs. -3.2 ± 4.2 points) in the IH and NT1 groups. Severe morning inertia was improved in 24/34 (71%) patients with IH. During the follow-up period (15.8 months in IH vs. 35 months in NT1 groups), 53% IH and 68% NT1 patients dropped out. The side effects were as frequent in the IH group as in the NT1 group (67% vs. 52%), but nausea (40% vs. 13%) and dizziness (34.3% vs. 4.3%) were more frequent in the IH group. CONCLUSION: The benefit/risk ratio of sodium oxybate in IH- was similar to NT1-associated sleepiness, with additional benefits on severe morning inertia, despite using smaller doses in more refractory patients.